Electric gaslighting device



J. W. MAYO ELEGTRIG GAS LIGHTING DEV-ICE v. o N

Filed March 15. 1924 ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 12, 1929 JOHN WYLAND Y0, 0F WILKINSBURG', ZEENNSYLVANI 'ELEGLBII'Jl G ASLIGHTING DEVICE Application ld Haren 13, 1924. Serial No. 698,904.

nomical to manufacture and effective in its' operation.

Another object of my invention is to provide an electric gas-lighting device embodying a. resistance element that shall be protamed in xed igniting relation to a gas l Y certain objections as a gas-igniting means,

tected against damage from the gas ame.

Another object of my invention is to provide electrical means for simultaneously igniting gas from a plurality of spaced gas-jet openings or burners.

Another object of m invention is to provide an electrlc gas-lighting device embodyin a resistance element that shall be mainburner or burners.

Another object of my invention is to provide an electric gas-lighting device embodying a resistance element that shall be. adapted to be heated to incandescence and that shall be so positioned relative to a gas burner'as to not split the flame or otherwise lower the efficiency thereof.

A further object of my invention' is to provide an electric gas-lighting device that shall embody a resistance element adapted tor be heated to incandescence and automatic or manual means for controlling the circuit thereof.

With such objects in view, as well as other advantages which may be incident to the utilization of the improvement, the invention consists in the parts and combinations thereof hereinafter set forth and claimed, with the understanding that the several necessary elements constituting the same may be varied in proportion and arrangement without departing from the nature and scope of the invention; v

Electric gas-li hting devices Y of mary forms have hereto ore been suggested, inclu ing spark-ignition means and devices employin incandescent filaments, butto the best o my knowledge, most of them have been subJect to one serious objection or anlother, as attested by the fact that none of them has been widely adopted.

In Vdevices of this character employin the jump-spark principle, the principal o jections are apparently the complication and expense caused by the necessity of employing an induction coil. Such devices, as heretofore suggested, have also been limited to use -with a single gas outlet or jet. That is, from the nature of a jump spark device, its use for igniting a vplurality of spaced gas jets or burners either individually or simultaneously in a simple economical manner is not readily suggested.

`An incandescent filament is also openl to unless various factors are taken into consideration and provided for in a simple economical manner. For instance, there are no known economically commercial resistance materials, short lengths of which may be directly connected to electric circuits of stand'- ard commercial voltages, such as house-lighting circuits employing alternating current at one hundred and ten volts,lunless certain more or less expensive compensating means are placed in circuit with Ithe short ilament.

A Long incandescent filaments are s ubject'to sagging or permanent distortion and, in employing such a filament, this'feature must be taken into consideration.l However, tothe best of my knowledge, no gas-igniting device of the prior art has embodied a long filament.

Another'objection to the use of an inca/11 descent filament, either long or short, in thei direct path of a gas flame, as suggested in the prier art, is the excessive oxidation which occurs. This feature mu'st also be uarded against, or the rate of oxidation re uced, as much as possible, to ensure an eli'ectlve'devlce having a suflicient term of service to warrant its use.

Another objection to having any object, such as an incandescent filament, in the direct path of the flame, is that the flame is divided or split and thereby lowered in efficiency.

All of the gas-igniting devices of theprior art, so far as I am aware, have been devised for the purpose of causing ignition at one point or spot, such as adj acet to a single gas jet.

In most gas furnaces and stoves, the burners have a relatively large number of gas jets or openings, and, in many instances, are so placed as to be comparativel in accessible. This feature causes considera le inconveniers are not ordinarily or readily visible to a person attempting to light the same. As a result, a match is placed in the approximate position of the burner and the gas turned on. If the match isnot immediately adjacent to the burner, an accumulation of gas occurs, which explodes witha puff and frequently burns the hand of the person attempting to light the gas. Also, in many forms of lfurnaces and stoves having large numbers of gas openings or burners, it is necessary to pass a match or other flaming element from one gas opening to another to ignite them all and prevent theaccumulation of probable explosion. There are many other objections to the use of matches for lighting gas burners, as attested by the many unsuccessful attempts to provide a simple, economical device that iseff'ective in operation and attractive to any considerable number of prospective users. I propose to overcome all of the abovementioned objections and to provide a simple, effective and economical electric gaslighting device in the form of a unit that shall be readily adapted for assembly with a stove or furnace and that may be added as part of the equipment of a stove or furnace already in use. y i

In practicing my invention, I provide a simple, economical filamentary resistance elegas and a ment that is adapted to be heated to incandescence by direct connection to a standard commercial electric circuit, that is so positioned relatively to, the gas flame'as to reduce the degree of oxidation of the element and to pose of explanation, are madethe subject ofv illustration.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a front view of a gas stove, of a usual type, in connection withwhich the electric gaslighting device of my invention is diagrammatically shown.

Fig. 2 isy a side View of the device shown in Fig. 1, taken at right angles thereto,

Fig. 3 isl an enlarged broken detail vieW of the igniting device embodying my invention,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, taken at rightl angles to Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a detail view of a portion of a device embodying a modification of my invention, and

Fig. 6 is a detail plan View of a portion of the device shown in Fig. 5.

lThe device comprises, in general, a stove 1, of a usual and well-known type, embodying side walls 2, a reflector 3 and a tube or pipe 4 extending normal to the side walls 2 at the upper rear portion of the stove. The tube 4 is provided with a plurality of spaced openings in which insulating burner tips or nipples 5 are disposed, and a valve 6, outside the stove 1, for controlling the flow of gas from a source yof gas supply (not shown) to the nipples 5.

An insulating supporting rod or member 8, preferably of asbestos composition, extends between the Walls 2, to which it may be suitably secured, as by angle members 9, at a position parallel to and beneath the tube 4. A tortuously formed or helically wound filamentary resistance element 10, preferably of nickel chrome, lies in a channel 11 in the supporting member 8 and may be secured in position by filamentary elements or wires 12 that are wrapped around the members 8 and the filament 10 between convolutions of the latter.

Insulated conducting leads 14 and 15 at the reflector 3, to an outer lead 16, through a fuse 17, a switch 18 and a binding post 2O that are mounted on an insulating panel 19 on the stove 1. The lead 15,\similarly disposed .behind the reflector 3, extends to an outer lead 21, through a binding post 22 on the panel 19. The leads 16 and 21 are for direct connection to a standard commercial circuit (not shown). The switch 18 is preferably of a ty'pe which must be held manually in its closed position.

In the structure above de'scribed, the filament 10 is laterally spaced from the axis of the nipples 5 sothat it is only sufficiently close thereto to ignite gastherefrom but is not in the direct path of the main body of the flame. This feature materially assists in the preservation of the filament and prevents splitting the flame.

Being supported by the insulating member 8, the filament 10 is prevented from sagging and is maintained in fixed igniting relation to the nipples 5.

The lament is wound tortuously to i provide suicient length of conductor of proper cross-sectional area. to absorb the voltage of a standard commercial houselighting or other circuit, in ,consideration of the degree of incandescence required. Any relatively short filament would require auxiliary voltage reducing means or would have to be connected to a battery or other special circuit.

In operation, when it is desired to ignite gas from the nipples 5, it is only necessary to depress the handle of the switch 18, which closes the circuit of the element 10 and causes the latter to heat to incandescence, and to turn the valve 6 to its on position. This operation causes the gas to ignite, whereupon release of the switch 18 opens the circuit of the element 10.

In Fig. 5, in which correspondence parts are designated by corresponding reference characters, the construction is substantially the same as in the above described form, except that means is provided to automatically control the operation of the device.

means comprises a bimetallic element 24 connected between the filament 10 and the lead 14 through an adjustable contact screw 25.

The element 24 is preferably mounted on the insulating member 8 and located or adjusted to be responsive to heat from the gas rather than from the filament 10.

With this construction a usual snap switch may be substituted for the switch 18, or a combined switch and gas valve device 27 substituted for the valve 6 'and the switch 18, so that thecircuit of the filament 10 may be permanently closed.

The heat from the ignited gas causes the element 24 to interrupt the circuit of the Elament 10 andshould the gas subsequently become accidentally extinguished, the element 24 will automaticall close the circuit of the lilament to reignite t e gas.

The device 27 comprises a gas-valve portion 28, similar to a valve of usual form, connected between a source of gas supply and the tube 4 and an electric switch portion 29 connected in circuit with the filament 10 between the conductors 14 and 16. The movable element 30 of the gas-valve portion 28 supports an insulating or insulated arm V31 that is adapted to depress a resiliently biased switch arm 32, connected to the conductor 16, to engage a stationary contact member 33, connected to the conductor 14. The construction and relation of parts are such that, at the beginning of the on turning lmovement, and at the end of the off turning movement, of the movable gas-valve element 30, the switch arm 31 makes and breaks contact with the stationary contact member 33 relatively quickly and the contact members are maintained in engagement in all intermediate positions of the element 30.

This A By my invention, an extremely simple, economlcal and effective electric gas-lighting device is provided that is adapted for direct `connection to a standard house-lighting or other circuit of commercial voltage, thereby avoiding the use of complicated and expensive auxiliary apparatus. Damage incident to the ordinary methods of igniting gas is eliminated and, in general, the operation of lighting gas burners is greatly facilitated and improved.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an electric gas-lighting device, the combination with a gas burner embodying a .plurality of jet openings, of a single resistance element extending through positions adjacent to each of said openings and adapted to be heated to incandescence to ignite gas therefrom.

2. In an electric gas-lighting device, the combination with a gas burner embodying a plurality of jet openings, of a single resistance element extending through positions adjacent to each of said openings and adapted' to be heated to incandescence to ignite gas therefrom, and means for compensating for distortion of said element and maintaining the same in ixed igniting relation to said openings comprising means for supporting said element intermediate its terminals. 95

3. In an electric gas-lighting device, the combination with a gas burner embodying a plurality of jet openings, of a single woundy resistance element 'extending through and between positions adjacent to each of said openings and adapted to be heated to incandescence to ignite gas therefrom, and a single insulating member for supporting said element throughout its length in xed igniting relation to said openings.

4. In an electric gas-lighting device, the combination with a gas burner embodying a plurality of jet openings, of a single helically-wound resistance element extending throughpos'itions adjacent to each of said openings and adapted to be heated to incandescence to ignite gas therefrom, and a single insulating member having a channel in which f said element yis supported substantially throughout its length in fixed igniting relation to said openings.

5. In an electric gas-lighting device, the combination with a plurality of gas-jet elements, of a single electric-circuit gas-igniting means including a plurality of portions each adjacent to an opening in onaof said elements and adapted to be heated to incandescence to ignite gas therefrom.

, 6. In an electric gas-lighting device, the combination with a plurality of gas-jet elements, oa single electric-circuit gas-igniting means including a plurality of portions eac cence to ignite gas therefrom, and means for 130 compensating for distortion of said igniting means and maintaining said portions lin fixed ignitinov relation to said elements comprising means or supporting said igniting means intermediate its terminals.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 26th day of February,

JOHN WAYLAND MAYO. 

